The Kings issued a statement saying that they were planning on terminating Voynov's contract but now with this news they don't have to. I guess instead they're just going to suspend him. Call my crazy, but I don't buy that. They'd have let him back. They've publicly supported him through this entire ordeal, when they could have just as easily distanced themselves from him during the investigation. This is Lombardi back in April talking about Voynov's potential return:
?If everything was normal around here with him, they?d probably be shooting for the middle of September, so arguably we could have him back from what they?re saying. That?s said, it?s like Pearson, right? We thought Pearson would be back sooner. So you don?t know for sure,? he said.
?This is a guy who played 23, 24 minutes during the playoffs. He?s a guy we signed long-term to a reasonable contract. He fits like a glove, with a right shot behind Doughty. But in terms of the [legal proceedings], it doesn?t make any sense to talk about what the league?s going to do until this other process plays out.?
Pretty easy to take a tough stance against the things that he did when he's no longer a positive asset to your team.
